Hawaiʻi Legal Research

Hawai'i Legal Research was written to fill a gap in the literature that examines Hawaiian legal authorities and the Hawaiian legal system, from the Kingdom era to statehood, from the researcher's perspective. Although primarily focused on Hawai'i, the book also includes a concise discussion of Federal resources as they relate to and complement the research in Hawai'i pre-statehood and statehood materials. Throughout, the authors recommend strategies to help law students, practitioners, and the public start and complete legal research projects efficiently and thoroughly.

The first chapter begins with an overview of the research process and then introduces readers to the most relevant online resources that are discussed in the later chapters. Chapters on constitutional, statutory, case law, and administrative law research are careful to consider and show how the Hawaiian Kingdom and customary laws inform Hawai'i's modern jurisprudence. Beyond reviewing the primary sources of law, this book examines the role of secondary sources in the research process, provides explicit instructions on how to create a legislative history for a statute in Hawai'i, diagrams the state's court structure and reporting requirements, illustrates proper Bluebook and local rules for citing Hawaiian legal authorities, and offers readers a strategy when researching Kānaka Maoli custom and law. Most chapters contain checklists to help track your research and a sample research plan is included in an appendix. Print, free internet, and fee-based online sources are referenced, and charts and images of these resources are included to assist the researcher with visual aids.

Hawai'i Legal Research is the first text to comprehensively focus on legal research resources, tools, and strategies to start and complete a research project based on Hawaiian law. Law students, legal practitioners, and anyone seeking help in unraveling the complexities of law will benefit from this book.

This book is part of the Legal Research Series, edited by Tenielle Fordyce-Ruff, Director of the Legal Research and Writing Program, Concordia University School of Law.